More than 100 boys and girls from Swindon were recently trained by some local rugby stars thanks to the partnership between MAN Truck & Bus UK and Bath Rugby.

The two businesses have been working together to encourage more youngsters to take up the sport, and one of the recent initiatives was to stage a special community rugby event for pupils from schools within the White Horse Federation.

Five players from Bath Rugby, including England Under 20s stars Tom Woolstencroft, Tom Ellis and Will Homer, provided special coaching sessions, including tag rugby, during two hours of top class rugby training at the town's Supermarine Rugby Club.

Simon Elliott, MAN Truck & Bus UK's managing director, said: "It is really important for us to be involved in initiatives such as this as they can play such a major role in the local community.

"All the children seemed to thoroughly enjoy the day, and obviously the training was second-to-none for their age group and they will all have taken something away with them – and you never know, we may even have inspired a star of the future. "

Hooker Woolstencroft added: "It was great to be involved in introducing rugby to children who may not have had the chance to play it before. We know that Swindon is pretty football dominated, but hopefully we'll have helped create some new rugby supporters through this, and we look forward to doing more joint community days with MAN in the future."